Although the note does not have any biographical information about Francis D. Clark, he is included in Bancroft's California
Pioneer Register. Clark was from New York, and he arrived in California in 1847. From 1848-1849, he worked as a miner. He
then moved to San Joaquin and worked there as a trader, ferryman, and justice of the peace in between the years of 1849 and
1855. In 1855, he returned to New York City and worked as a trader until 1860, and then he served in the American Civil War.
When the war ended in 1865, he once again returned to New York City. He was an active member of the New York Society of California
Pioneers, and he published several articles/memoirs on surviving pioneers of the time. "Pioneer of '47" is a brief narrative
that he wrote about his experience in California.